Gravity is a major enemy of a healthy, pain free spine. The human embryo develops in the womb suspended in amniotic fluid which minimizes the effects of gravity. Otherwise, deformation in the development of the skeletal structure of the fetus from the force of gravity would result.
During infancy, and in the formative growth years of development, gravity has minimum impact. A child is not heavy, has resilient bones, and is able to sleep in any position and virtually anywhere, including on hard floors. This can be done without any undue adverse gravitational effects on the child's skeletal structure, or suffering ill effects such as nerve pain from spinal distortion, or circulatory reduction caused by pressure points on the shoulders, hips and buttocks, caused by the hard sleep surface.
The bodies of young adults are still relatively resilient and can withstand the gravitational forces without undue discomfort or harm. For example, young fit adults are able to sleep directly on the ground while camping.
As a person becomes older, the body, and especially its skeletal structure, becomes less resilient and hence more vulnerable to the adverse forces of gravity. Depending on physical condition, a person's body increases in weight and the skeleton, including the spine, becomes less flexible. The spine, with its complex disc, vertebrae and nerve structure, is a delicate mechanism and prone to breakdown. When the spine is distorted from its normal linear form for long periods of time, such as while reclining on a poor sleeping surface, gravitational force is exerted on the shoulders, waist and hips of the person, thereby compressing the spine and causing and the spinal nerves to be pinched by the vertebrae, thus generating pain, and potential nerve damage, if the poor sleep surface problem is not rectified. The pressure points at the shoulders and hips also become numb due to lack of oxygen caused by reduced blood circulation in these areas. These spinal pain and circulation problems have been recognized for many years by physicians as a problem with bed-ridden patients in hospitals. Also, millions of adults regularly visit their physicians complaining of morning back pain.
It is a medically accepted fact that the human spine during sleep should be supported so that it retains generally the same sinuous linear form or shape as when the body is in a vertical, standing, or sitting position. This minimizes pressure on the many nerves, such as the sciatic nerves, emanating from the spinal column. During the sleep period, the spine should be placed in a neutral position and should not incur the same gravitational compression that occurs when the spine is in the vertical position. The spine should be placed in a neutral or tension condition during the sleep period so as to rejuvenate the spine and the supporting muscles for the next day's activities. This allows for a relaxed, rejuvenating sleep.
The human form is individually unique in shape and weight displacement throughout its length. Yet existing sleep surfaces used by humans usually have the same degree of compression throughout the entire sleep surface. This would be acceptable if the human form was in the shape of a cylinder requiring even support throughout its length, while in a prone position. To provide proportional support for specific uneven weight distributions throughout the length of a human's reclining body, the sleep surface should ideally provide increased compression support for the heavier areas of the body and lower compression support for other area of the body.
This problem is partially recognized by the layman, in dealing with the head while sleeping. The head is one of the heaviest, concentrated areas of a person's body. Also, the neck is a vulnerable area. A sleeping adult usually obtains support and comfort in the cervical (neck) area of the spine by selecting a correct pillow, or pillows, to prop up the head and neck. This is a partial solution to the uneven weight distribution throughout a person's body. However, solutions to the uneven weight distribution of other areas of the body have not been addressed. This invention provides specific custom manual adjustment support for the lumbar area of the spine and accommodates all normal sleeping positions.
For thousands of years, mankind, while sleeping or resting, has reclined on a wide variety of sleep surfaces and supports. In western civilizations, the most commonly used sleep surface upon which a person sleeps is a mattress, or a mattress and an underlying boxspring. A wide variety of mattress types have been developed over the years, including coil spring mattresses of various grades of firmness, mattresses stuffed with various resilient materials, plastic foam mattresses and air and water inflated mattresses. With the advancement of medicine, and a better understanding of a person's spinal column, it has become established that the type and quality of a mattress upon which a person reclines, particularly if the person has a spinal weakness or handicap, or some other handicap such as shoulder bursitis or hip arthritis, is extremely important to maintaining health of the spine. It is widely accepted by physicians and chiropractors that a firm mattress is more beneficial than a soft mattress for such persons. A firm mattress prevents the user's spine from sagging unduly, a condition which tends to aggravate spinal problems. Nevertheless, even expensive firm mattresses do not provide ideal support for a person with a back problem, or a person with some other handicap, especially after prolonged use. A firm mattress tends to raise and place pressure points on the hips and shoulders of the person lying on the mattress. The waist (lumbar) area of the spine, which is one of the parts most vulnerable to nerve pinching problems, remains largely unsupported.
Mattresses that are used in institutions such as hospitals, golden age homes, and the like, do not have the capability of being selectively supportive of specific areas of the recliner's body. As a general rule, the mattresses used by these institutions, and also those used by the inhabitants of residences, are of the same firmness throughout, and do not provide selective degrees of firmness for specific areas of the mattress. Infirmed or elderly persons often require different levels of firmness or elevation for specific areas of the mattress. Pillows and cushions are used to prop up various areas.
The following patents disclose inventions that are more or less pertinent to the subject invention.
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Inventor Issue Date ______________________________________ 4,697,290 Alklind Oct. 6, 1987 4,617,690 Grebe Aug. 24, 1986 4,467,484 Magatake et al. Aug. 29, 1984 4,357,724 Laforest Nov. 9, 1982 4,206,322 Young et al. Dec. 22, 1981 3,242,511 Fultz et al. Mar. 29, 1966 2,822,544 Wenzelberger Feb. 11, 1958 2,000,873 Arens May 7, 1935 ______________________________________
Alklind discloses a device for insertion under a mattress. The device includes a board with inflatable cells. The cells on each side of a longitudinal centre-line are independently inflatable to provide a rocking motion. No disclosure is made of specifically inflating specified areas to provide support for specific areas of a person's spine or specific weakened areas of a mattress.
Grebe discloses an inflatable bed patient mattress. Grebe does not disclose a device which underlies or cooperates with a mattress. The air mattress disclosed by Grebe is inflatable as a single unit around its periphery.
Takeuchi discloses a multi-chambered air bladder which has selectably inflatable chambers. The chambers underlay a fabric covered foam layer. The whole unit is used as a wrist or ankle wrap, and is not for spinal support or for use as a mattress support
The Laforest, Arens and Fultz et al. patents all disclose inflatable bladders having a central cavity therein for insertion in conventional mattresses. None of the foregoing patents discloses an inflatable bladder with separate inflation chambers for individual inflation. None of the listed patents discloses a custom device for use under a mattress to support the spine of a sleeper or uplift depressed areas of the mattress.
Wenzelberger discloses a pillow or cushion which is formed of foamed resilient material. The material is cast around an inflatable air tube/bladder.
Magatake et al. disclose a pneumatic cushion made from a thin elastic sheet which can be repeatedly inflated. It includes a board to isolate the welded portion from tension forces.